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If someone were to ask you the question, "What is Labor Day?" could you
really answer it? I doubt many of us really know anything about the
holiday other than the fact that it is the first Monday in September
and is the official end of summer. It used to signal the beginning of
the new school year, but with more schools returning to classes in
middle or late August that is no longer the case, though the beaches
and other summer activities continue throughout Labor Day weekend.
The tradition of celebrating Labor Day as a national holiday is over
one hundred years old. From its original conception as a labor union
celebration, it has grown to be symbolic of the end of summer
activities. It began in 1882 in New York as a parade by the Knights of
Columbus to give credit for the contributions to New York life of
working class citizens. In 1884, a large parade organized by the
Knights to celebrate the working class. The first Monday in September
was chosen for the date of the parade, and the Knights decided to hold
all future parades on that day. From then on the Knights designated the
first Monday in September as Labor Day.
Similarly, the Socialist Party held a celebration in honor of the
working class on May 1st, a date that became known as May Day. It was
celebrated by both Socialists and Communists, thus in the United
States, the first Monday in September was selected in order to
disassociate itself from any identification with Communism.
Toward the end of the last decade of the 1800’s, labor organizations to
lobby state legislatures to observe Labor Day as an official state
holiday. In 1887, the first states declared it a state holiday: Oregon,
Colorado, New York, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. In 1894, Congress
passed a law that designated Labor Day as an official national holiday.
Currently Labor Day is celebrated in the United States, Canada, and
other industrialized countries. Though in the U.S. it is a general
holiday, which also designates the end of the summer season; in
European countries its roots to the working class remains clear.
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